Unlucky
by SomeoneElseOutThere
Summary: Getting semi-captured by a sharkman wasn't on Tenten's predictions of the day, but maybe it'll turn out to be not so bad after all.
1. Chapter 1

AN: You remember how one of Tenten's hobbies is fortune telling? Well, my headcanon is Tenten has that hobby because of bad luck and wants to find out what string of good or bad luck she's getting that day. That's the footnote for this story.

This was originally going to be non-shippy to ease people into this crack ship. Then I wrote it and it was pretty shippy, decided to just go with it. At least I'm not the only one to think of Kisaten... (You should try it) This is probably is gonna be a two or three shot. I dont really know when the next part is gonna come, but it will.

Also, _when_ does this fic take place? I don't know. It exists in a vacuum.

* * *

At this point, Tenten had learned that trying to fight against the universe was futile, especially with her luck and how the universe constantly reminds her how bad it really was. An orphan, no talent, and maybe just a smidgen of hope that she could be great, but giving her all the signs that she'd always have Lady Luck hating her until she died.

But at least Lady Luck was creative in her punishments.

She had been two-timed, for one. It was just her, Lee, and Neji on a mission to a hideout for rouge ninja. Maybe she hadn't been paying attention or something, but she had accidentally sprung a trap. A trap that got her caught by the nameless ninjas, bound, and hauled off by said ninjas.

She thought that was when the bad luck would end. But no, it continued. Who else would happen upon her capture than an Akatsuki member? The very same one that nearly drowned her?

Her captors were absolutely terrified of Kisame, and she couldn't exactly blame them. The moment he found them, one of the three men dropped her, causing her to land on her side. One of them ran in the other direction, but the other two weren't so lucky. She was unlucky enough to catch a glimpse of Kisame's monstrous sword shredding one of the men with a spray of blood. She closed her eyes, the sight of the gore making her sick.

She half-expected Kisame to just leave her or kill her. So, best as she could, she tries to wriggle out of her bindings or _at least_ farther away from him. Contrary to her initial belief, he instead walks over, picks her up, and throws her over his shoulder. That was an unknown amount of hours ago. At some point she had fallen asleep after kicking and screaming, but she had no idea for how long or exactly when.

The sky was starting to tint orange with the sunset, and with a sigh, she kicks again. He only grunts, adjusting his hold on Tenten.

"Aren't you tired?" She asks, putting her hands together in a fist and lightly hitting his back to catch his attention.

"No." He answers. She could almost hear the never ending sharp-toothed grin on his face as he said that. What had even wanted her for, anyway? It wasn't even as if she had some crucial information for him or anyone in the Akatsuki could be interested in!

Suddenly, and rather unceremoniously, Kisame dropped her on the ground. Tenten landed with a 'oof!' as all the air left her body. Her back aching, she tries to sit up with her limited mobility, glaring at him.

"What was that for?" She snaps, trying to adjust herself into a sitting position, and realized Kisame had walked away from her to a nearby tree. Embaressed, she looks away thinking he was doing something else, but instead, he reaches up grabs a fistful of twigs. He kicks away the leaves on the ground, throwing down the gathered wood. He sits, taking out a kunai and a piece of flint. With a few scrapes, sparks fly and land on the flammable wood.

Tenten watches, dumbfounded as Kisame tends to the small but growing fire before him. He didn't seem to notice her at first, focusing exclusively on the fire. Then, his eyes look up to make contact with hers.

"It will be night soon." He says. "I suppose you know how cold it can get. I didn't think it'd be right of me to make a captured woman sleep in the cold."

"You're such a gentlemen." Tenten says with a roll of her eyes. "It almost makes me forget you kidnapped me."

"Does it? I suppose I'm better with women than I thought." He grins at her. She can't tell if he's being sincere or just playing along, and it's beginning to piss her off. "Besides, I thought I rescued you."

"Rescuing includes letting me go the moment you found me. But you didn't do that. Why?" She asks accusingly. Illustrating her point, Tenten waves her bound wrists for him to see. "And you didn't even untie me!"

"My mistake. I didn't want you getting scared off." He says. He reaches into his cloak and takes out the same kunai, throwing it to her feet. Struggling, she grasps it, carefully sawing through her binds as Kisame watches her with a toothy grin. Actually, he had that expression on his face the entire time he talked. Was it just his default?

With a sigh of relief, she gets through the rope on her wrists with little trouble. She easily cuts through the rope around her ankles. She rolls the hilt of the kunai in her palm, feeling at home with the weapon in her hand. She glances at Kisame, but doesn't raise her head. Realizing that she had an S-Class criminal sitting across from her, her mind begins to think. Without warning, she jumps to her feet, rushing Kisame and pointing the blade against his throat.

"Really bold of you to give the girl you kidnapped a weapon." She says, more than a little proud at cornering an Akatsuki member like this. "Especially someone like me, sharkman."

His grin doesn't disappear. Instead, he laughs. A low laugh that comes from his throat. He looks up at her with a furrowed brow, grin still present as if he was calling her actions as a bluff. "Do you really believe I would be scared of little girl with a knife?"

From the corner of her eye, she sees his arm raise. She glances down to see his familiar sword, like a collection of strange barbs or scales. To her horror, something like a mouth opens, with it's own set of teeth and a tongue, licking it's maw. She had seen that thing before, but she didn't think that thing was _alive_.

Tenten screams in both surprise and disgust, backing away from the horror and the man who held it. In her shock, the kunai has slipped right out of her hand and fell to the ground. Kisame picks it up, putting it away as he chuckles.

"You're a bold little girl, I have to admit." He says. "It's not often I meet someone who isn't afraid to challenge me."

She frowns, backing away until her back hit a tree. "What about my sensei? You do remember him, right?"

"Of course I do." he confirms. "I remember the boy who looked like him too. Then there was the Hyuga you just can't miss; but you? Well, it took me a while. You're quite plain compared to them."

If she could frown harder at that statement, she would. She crosses her arms, turning away from him. "I'm so flattered." She remarks, looking around the clearing. She didn't recognize anything, although if she were honest she had no idea where the men had been taking her in the first place.

"What's stopping me from leaving right now?" Tenten asks, turning back to look at Kisame. Samehada was across his lap now, wrapping bandages around it and... petting it? The action struck her as more bizarre than the mouth she had seen moments before.

"Nothing. Except for the mere fact you don't know where you are or how to get back to Konoha." He scoffs.

"And why exactly did you 'rescue' me?" She probes, putting quotations around the word with her hands.

"Please. Three men hauling off a teenage girl, her wrists and ankles bound?" He spits, disgusted. "I only regret not killing that third one."

She froze, surprised. Admittedly that was not the answer Tenten expected. It never crossed her mind the implications behind her capture and subsequent hauling off. But, more surprisingly, was Kisame rescuing her from that. Maybe it just the idea that he had done something for a helpless person's benefit. The Akastuki were criminals, and it didn't seem the least bit fitting that the same person who nearly drowned her then rescued her from a worse fate.

"Why would you do that?" Tenten asks, genuinely confused.

"I don't know." He answers with a shrug. "I know I'm no good man, but there are some things, some people in life I refuse to tolerate."

Tenten sits, her back hitting a tree. She draws her knees up to her chest, grabbing a nearby stick and poking the ground with it.

"I'd say, just for saving me from that, you're not _completely_ bad." She admits. "I don't think I can trust you. At least, not a lot. It's hard to measure."

Tenten watches as Kisame finishes wrapping Samehada, his mind deep in concentration and his hands working deftly. She finds it beautiful, in a strange way, seeing someone take such care of weapons like that. She remembered reading somewhere that the Bandage tradition was done to keep the blade from getting too big, lest it kill the user. Somehow, she doubted Samehada would really harm Kisame.

"What do you plan to do with me?" She questions. "Just leave me in the morning?"

"No. I'd likely find you a town where you can get your own help." Kisame said, setting Samahada next to him, letting the sword lean against the tree. A chill ran through the air.

"Why are you even helping me in the first place?" She asks.

"Maybe for once, I'm just sick of death and misfortune." He answers, crossing his arms. She frowns.

"That doesn't seem right, with what I've seen of you." She said, mirroring his current pose. He grins at her, but she can't tell if it's because of her comment or change in position.

"Then you really don't know me."

Kisame doesn't say anything else, but she can tell he's closed his eyes in the dim light of the fire. She sighs, letting her stretch out. Tenten looks up at the sky to see it now faded to a deep, navy blue, the stars shining. She begins to mentally spot and chart the constellations, using it as a way to lull herself to sleep. Soon, her neck cramps, and with some hesitation she lays herself on the forest floor, closing her eyes and drifting into sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

I've never camped or cooked fish in my life

* * *

When she awoke, she felt warmth and softness all around her, like she was in her bed again. For a moment, she thought she really was. Until she remembered her half-rescuing, half kidnapping with Kisame and realized something was really weird about what she was wrapped in.

It smelled like the ocean and fresh leaves, though she guessed that was just the forest rubbing off on it. Sitting up, Tenten realized she was wrapped in the Akastuki's cloak. Confused, she stood, folding the cloak against her and looking around the clearing for Kisame. Samahada was still leaning against the tree, but she wasn't eager to touch it. Their campfire was smoldering with the warm ashes from last night, but she noticed there was something like a makeshift grill over it. Likely, he meant to return and cook something over the fire.

Tenten turns around to walk behind her and immediately crashes into something. She stumbles but doesn't fall, and for a moment she thought she had ran into a tree. But it was too soft to be a tree.

Kisame stood before her, grin plastered on his face looking down at her quizzically, a bucket at his side, and shirtless. Very shirtless. _Handsomely_ shirtless. It wasn't until he spoke up that she realized she had been staring.

"You seem awake." Kisame comments with a grin, snapping her out of her stupor. She sputters, and in order to save face she presents him with his cloak.

"You left this out." Tenten says, blushing.

"You were shivering last night. Downright pitiful." He says, his tone not actually sounding condescending as he took his cloak. She almost swears he grumbles "Maybe now you're a little too warm" as he walks past her. He doesn't put the cloak back on, instead setting the folded cloak next to him as he sits down at the grill. He places two fish on the grill, both of which looked like Salmon.

"I caught a few fish." Kisame said as he lifts up his cloak to take out the same piece of flint from last night. "Are you hungry?"

"Only a little." Tenten replies, her face still warm. She wanted to smack herself for blushing at a time like this, and hoped Kisame didn't notice. "I don't know if fish from the local lake is a good idea. At least, not for breakfast. "

"It wasn't from a lake, just from the river." He says, as if the distinction was that important to him. "You can't afford to be picky when you're hungry regardless. Why don't you get some wood?"

"Fine." Tenten says quickly, turning her head away from him so that he doesn't see her face. She knew shouldn't embarrassed around a criminal of all people, no matter how good-looking his body is. She wondered what the hell was up with his body away, being blue, having gills, and nicely-sculpted—Damnit, she was doing it again!

Walking away from the clearing and away from Kisame allowed her to clear her head. Taking some of the larger branches from the ground and breaking them, she wondered if she leave right now. But as she walked along, she couldn't find any indication about where she was. She eventually found the river Kisame was most likely talking about, but she didn't recognize it either. Tenten supposed she could have bolted then down the river, but that wouldn't have been a safe bet either. Being without any weapons, she was officially trapped.

Well, at least he was being _polite_.

After she gathered a good bundle she walked back to the clearing, where Kisame had a fire consisting of mostly smoke. She handed over the wood, more than happy that she had gotten over her blushing fit while she was gone. He had two bowls out with the utensils sitting in them, presumably from his same cloak.

"Isn't this cannibalism for you?" She asks as she watches him cook the fish over the grill. He doesn't look at her, but the default grin is still plastered on his face, making it difficult for her to read him.

"I don't know what you mean." He says, flipping the fish over.

"Aren't you... um," Tenten struggles to find the right word, idly playing with her hands. "A fishman?"

"You called me Sharkman last night. That's closer to what I am." Kisame answers. He takes the kunai from last night and cuts the fish in half. She cringes, but not from the fish. Rather, from the thought that it likely wasn't washed from last night. He prepares it, giving her a bowl of the cut up fish. She then wonders where the hell he was keeping it all. Scrolls? She didn't notice anything like it. It made since for the flint to be carried in pocket.

"So, what's it from?" Tenten asks, taking a bite. "Is it apart of some animal contract?"

"No. But I can summon sharks." He explains.

"Is it from Samehada then?" Tenten moves to catch a glimpse of the sword leaning against the tree, expecting it to move or react somehow to it's name. It doesn't.

"No."

"Then you were born like this?" She guesses, pointing the utensil at him. Kisame responds with a sharp grin and a nod.

"Okay, so, my next question: _what_ are you?" Tenten continues, setting aside the bowl. "I've never seen anyone ask about people like you, and it seems like there's nothing I can find on why there are people like you."

"I can't say I'm a wellspring of knowledge." Kisame muses. "But I don't think there's a larger story behind my appearance. My clan, the Hoshigaki clan, just look like I do."

She doesn't quite frown, but her lips thin into a line. "There has to be something." She says. "I mean, are there more people from the Mist village look like you? I've seen kids with sharp teeth during some of our Chunin exams, but never anyone as extreme as you."

"There are other clan cousins who have similar traits to myself. I can't say I recall any of their names." He finishes his bowl, putting it down. "But, there is a story I remember hearing about how our clans were born."

Tenten sits, patiently waiting for Kisame to continue. He doesn't notice Tenten's patient posture until he looks up at her again, seeing her look up at him with big, curious eyes. He sighs.

"It's short. Supposedly, there were a race of, what you'd call, fisher. Some saw they were cursed, some say they were created by a sea god, or something deeper. They used to live in the sea, but some fishmen would breed with humans. Eventually, the interbreeding would create human hybrids, and that's how the Hoshigakis and cousin clans were born."

"Are the Mist Ninja with the sharp teeth supposed to be watered down versions of you, then? No pun intended." She asks. He shrugs.

"Maybe they are. I don't believe the story. It's just a legend."

She doesn't know how to respond to that.


	3. Chapter 3

This chapter moves too fast for my taste, but it would have been longer regardless. This turned out to be a four shot/three shot with an epilouge.

* * *

It doesn't take long after when he throws his cloak back on, (regrettably) and tells her to get going. He picks up Samahada, throwing the massive sword over his shoulder and walking out of the clearing. Stumbling, she follows him.

"Hey, wait!" She calls, trying to catch up with him. He was only walking, but it seemed to be at a much quicker and larger gait than her. He doesn't turn back to look at her, only looking down when she tugs at the sleeve of his cloak.

"What?"

"What about a weapon?" Tenten says. "What if some ninjas ambush us? I can't do anything without a kunai or some shuriken."

"Then just stay back and out of the way." He grunts, taking his sleeve out her grip. Tenten grabs it again, tugging it harder this time. Annoyed, he tries to shake her off.

"There's _no way_ I'm letting you do all the fighting." She growls. "I am _not_ about to be dead weight."

He yanks his sleeve out of her grasp again, scoffing this time. "Determined little girl aren't you?" He says. "I have to admit, that's admirable of you."

Kisame reaches into his cloak and tosses her the kunai from that morning. He begins walking again, wordlessly indicating for her to follow him.

"I have a name, you know." She speaks up. "It's Tenten."

"Strange name." He comments. She rolls her eyes.

"I'm not a little girl either. I'm almost nineteen." Tenten continues. He stops, turning to look her over.

"You sure look like a little girl to me." Kisame replies, grinning at her annoyed expression.

"What little girl is _this_ tall?" She exclaims, gesturing to herself. He chuckles, and Tenten attempts to shove him, yielding no result. Annoyed, she hangs behind him, looking at the sword being held against his back. Tempting fate, she reaches out and lets her fingertips graze the sword. It doesn't move.

"Samehada won't eat you." He says without looking back. "Just your chakra."

"I never said it would."

"No. But you keep acting like it will at any moment."

"It's not that." Tenten lied. Actually, it was partially a lie, but she wasn't about to let him know he was half-right. "I've never seen one of the Seven Swords of the Mist up close before."

"Yes, you have. Back when I fought you during the Kazekage incident."

"Close _r_." She clarifies. "You know, that time you were alone too. But I always thought the Akastuki worked in pairs. If I remember right, you showed up with Itachi Uchiha a little after the Chunin exams. Where is he now?"

"He's dead." Kisame says bluntly. So blunt it sounded nonchalant to him, like business as usual. She went quiet, feeling the tension in the air.

"Sorry." Tenten murmurs.

"It would have happened eventually." He says.

Tenten bits her lip at the awkwardness she caused. She rolls the Kunai over in her hand.

"If you don't mind me asking, when did... um, that happen?"

"Two weeks ago."

She cringed. "I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?" He stops to look down at her.

"I'm just trying to be nice." She says with a shrug. "That's usually what you do when someone tells you they lost a friend two week ago!"

Kisame doesn't say anything, turning his back to her again and continues walking. Frowning and with some guilt, she follows him.

"There's something I've always wondered about the Akastuki." She began. "What about your families? Do you even have any?"

"None that I know about." He said.

"But you said you belonged to the Hoshigaki Clan." She points out.

"True. I don't know anyone there."

She stops. "So, you're an orphan?"

He shrugs. "That's one way to put it."

 _Like_ _me_. She thought.

"You're very nosy." He comments. Tenten realized he had turned around now and was looking down at her. His teeth were still showing but there was nothing about his mouth that indicated a smile. "But so far, you haven't tried to extract information out of me. You won't make a good spy."

She looks up at him, confused. "You want me to try and extract information from you?"

"You've had that Kunai in your hand for the last mile as well, and you never once attempted to stab me in the back." He says, pointing to the kunai still gripped in her hand.

"If I did, then I wouldn't have a guide. You even told me that." She argues. She shakes her head, clearing her head, "Actually, no, why do you care?"

"Because it means you trust me." He says with a grin. "Why don't you ask me something about the Akastuki? Something you think would be important?"

Tenten blinks, her mind blank. Noticing this, Kisame continues.

"A hint. It has to do with our membership."

She frowns, disliking the obvious set up. Gripping the Kunai harder, she speaks. "How many members are left?"

"Four, that's including me. We're open for new members, anytime." He hints.

"Hold on." She says. "Are you trying to recruit me?"

"I never said specifically."

"No, but you implied it." She steps back, disgusted. "Why would you suggest that?"

"You're trustworthy." He says. He places his hand on her head, a gesture that made her jump in surprise. But she finds herself not minding it. "We could always use more members like that. Wouldn't you want to live in a world of happiness and fortune? Where lies and war are non-existent?"

She opens her mouth to argue, but the idea struck her as an attractive one. She had always had back luck, but the idea of an organization that could improve that luck. No, even better, make it so she'd never have bad luck again. But, for the first time in this trip, she remembers her team. No matter how attractive the offer sounded, she couldn't imagine living without them. Thinking about not seeing their faces again, or worse, them hating her for her betrayal made her heart sink. With a sigh, she removes Kisame's hand from her head.

"Kisame, I can't do that." She says. "I'm not betraying my village, and I'm certainly not betraying my team."

She expected him to frown or show signs of anger. But instead, he smiles. Not grin. Smile. He sighs. "You're a loyal girl, Tenten. I can admire that."

He swings his sword. Tenten ducks with a yelp, feeling the whoosh of the wind pass over her. She hears something hit the sword with a thwack and Samahada hiss in pain. Kisame grabs her, holding her against him and forcing her to face forward. She could see three Anbu black ops now, one of them holding two shuriken between their fingers. The other two were holding short swords.

"Stay back, or I kill the girl!" Kisame bellows. He slashed Samahada in front of him, the sword breaking free of it's bonds, and the Anbu back away. He moves to slash at one of the Anbu members, who doesn't back away in time for the sword to shred his arm. He screams, clutching his now bloodied arm and dropping his short sword.

"Cut me with the kunai." Kisame whispers to her, under the sound of the screams. Realizing his intention, Tenten obeys, reaching over and slashing the blade across his chest. Kisame howls, dropping her. The other short sword Anbu attempts to rush him, but Kisame quickly swings Samahada like a bat, sending the Anbu flying toward a nearby tree. The last uninjured Anbu with the Shuriken grabs her arm, pulling her away from Kisame as Samahada slammed into the ground where she lay a moment before.

"You damn girl!" Kisame hisses. She looks up to see him smiling still, realizing that Kisame is not the best actor. "If I ever see you again, I'll make sure to kill you the first chance I get!"

He winks at her, a quick one she hoped none of the Anbu noticed, and ran. The Anbu that had been thrown against the tree attempted to peruse him, but was stopped by the Shuriken wielding Anbu.

"Don't. We've completed our mission. It wouldn't be wise to pursue him in our state." The Anbu said, voice distinctly female. "Are you alright, Miss?"

"I'm fine." Tenten said, looking down at Kisame's kunai, the full weight of Kisame's actions hitting her like a truck. "I'm just ready to go home."


	4. Epilogue

I up the pretentiousness in this chapter.

Wasn't apart of the last one because I thought it would have made the chapter too long. Also, I felt like it had to be it's own thing.

* * *

Reunion with her team was a cause of celebration, and frankly she couldn't blame Guy for wanting to celebrate. He had cried, a lot, the moment he laid his eyes on her and hugged her so tightly she was certain he would have broken something if it had lasted a moment longer. The Neji was short, and the hug from Lee lasted twice as long as Guy's and with only half of the crying. (She didn't mind.)

They had taken her out to dinner, all three of them asking about her capture and how she ended up with Kisame. She felt bad about lying, but she said that she had escaped the men and Kisame had found her a bit afterword, choosing to take her hostage. To be fair, the first half's of the story was altered because she didn't want to admit that she hasn't gotten out on her own. She didn't want her teammates to connect the dots to her original capture as well. Guy, in particular, praised her on her quick thinking during the hostage situation. Lee had apologized profusely for not protecting her properly, and Neji had taken responsibility for not being more careful on the mission. When she had went into her apartment, all three of them walked her home.

That night, she had laid awake, staring at the ceiling of her apartment and thinking back on the past day and a half she spent with him. To her horror, she had actually come to trust Kisame during their short time together. But Kisame had never given her a reason not to, at least until the end. But even so, she knew why he did that. He didn't want the Anbu to think she did trust him. Maybe asking her if she's wanted to join was another tactic. If she had said yes, then he'd had a new member. But saying 'no'; then that would have actually helped her. Especially if he was aware of the Anbu following them, which she felt he had to.

Turning in her bed, thoughts about Kisame just couldn't leave her alone. There was something about him that bothered her. Maybe it was the reason he tried to get her to join the Akastuki made her wonder. He seemed like a bloodthirsty brute before, yet he rescued her from three men and offered to help her get back home. She talked with him and he gave her snippets of his life. He even cooked her food, for god's sake. Why the hell would he ever think of helping her?

She sits up with a sigh, the bed now feeling too hot from all her turning around. She kicks the covers off, crossing her legs and putting her head in her hands.

"Kisame the enigma." She mutters, half jokingly to herself. "Fate had me meet you for a reason. What is it?"

She thinks about her fortune telling, and an idea strikes her.

Kisame sat on the shores of the lake, looking out over the water line. Dried blood was all around him, all from the bodies of nameless ninja. They had tried to ambush him for the two men he had killed a while back, rescuing the Tenten girl. He didn't know why the same man who fled from the sight of him decided fighting him again would be any different. The only different was that he now had a higher body count.

"You know, I feel like I should be surprised." Said a familiar voice. He turns his head to see a familiar girl with a twin bun hairstyle, looking down at the dead bodies with discomfort. She had a scroll with her this time, one he recognized.

"How did you know where to find me?" He asks, grinning at her.

"I didn't." She said. "But I can make some educated guesses. Mostly in the form of predictions and fortune telling."

Kisame scoffs, turning away from her. Samehada sat in his lap, and he pet it absentmindedly. It rumbled when Tenten came near him, but quickly calmed as if she were no danger. He doubted she was anyway, but one can never be too sure.

"Have you come to ambush me too, then?"

"No. Just to talk." She says, walking forward. Samehada doesn't stir, not even when she's right behind him. "No one knows I'm here."

She sits, her back against his. He allows it, closing his eyes in tranquility. He sighs.

"There were a few things I meant to ask you." She began. "Why did you join the Akastuki?"

"To create a world of truth."

"Ambitious." Tenten comments. "What's the reasoning behind that?"

"Back in the Mist Village, I was charged with guarding the Cypher Division." He explains. "That meant I had to kill everyone the moment the enemy found us."

"What about you?"

"It was never my job to question orders." He says. "I didn't know anything about the cypher division, the enemy had no use for me; provided I didn't kill them first."

"It sounds lonely." She says. "Did you even have anyone outside the job?"

"No one, except my superior." He explains. "I found out he was supplying information to other villages. So I killed him, and took Samehada. That's how I became one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist."

"But you made friends with them, right?" She asks. "You can't really join something like that and not make friends."

"'Friend' is not something I would use to describe them." Kisame says. "At best, they were acquaintances. I left them soon after, and that's when I joined the Akatsuki."

"You're not going to leave them anytime soon, aren't you?" Tenten says; more as a statement, her voice somber. He doesn't understand why she sounds so sad.

"I can't, and I don't see myself doing so ever." He says. He hears something move, like her foot across the sand.

"When we met, you said you don't see yourself as a good man." She began. "But you saved me, took care of me, and wanted to guide me home. You even faked taking me hostage because me being buddy-buddy with you would have been too suspicious to the Anbu, right?"

He pauses. "I did."

"Why would you go through all of that?"

He pauses, longer this time. He looks out over the lake, over the bodies laid before him, and ponders. After a bit, he opens his mouth.

"I said I was sick of death and misfortune. That's still true. But I would have just brought you to the nearest village and have that be the end of it."

"But what changed?"

"I found you admirable." He says. "Maybe just from that first night with how bold you were, or how you insisted on being able to defend yourself, or even your loyalty and your refusal to betray the village or myself; even when you had a weapon and a clear shot."

There was another pause between the two of them, though this one was less silent with Tenten's humming. With a sigh, she spoke.

"Do you remember when I said I didn't think you were completely bad?" She begins. "I think I changed my mind. You can be a good person. I think you have it in you."

"And what makes you think that?" He scoffs.

"Everything you did for me." Tenten replies. "And I guess, maybe you were friends with Itachi too, but I don't know how close you two were."

Kisame frowns at that, but doesn't say anything. He feels something wrap around his hand, and looks down to see her hand around his. She looked more delicate like that, though he could see the faint scars around her fingers.

"What are you doing?" He questions, confused by her action. She lets go of him, rather suddenly, which disappoints him.

"Sorry." She says quickly, embarrassed. "I just thought you... needed comfort."

Kisame can't keep back his smile, finding her embarrassment amusing.

"You should leave." He says. "If anyone finds you talking to an S-class criminal so casually, the hostage act won't work."

She stands up, dusting off her pants. He hears her take a few steps before she stops.

"Do you want your kunai back?" she asks.

"No. Keep it." he says. "Think of it as a parting gift. There's always more."


End file.
